The US National Episcopal Church endorsed the goals of the Back from the Brink campaign at the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, held July 8-11, 2022. The General Convention is the national legislative body of the Episcopal Church, governing the church’s program and budget, Constitution, canons, and the Prayer Book. The resolution states:
Resolved, That the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church renounces the option of using nuclear weapons first and supports pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear armed nations to eliminate their arsenals as established in the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons; and be it further
Resolved, That the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church, following Jesus’ commandment to love God with our whole heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves, endorses the goals of organizations such as “Back from the Brink: the Call to Prevent Nuclear War” And the “International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons” and call on the Office of Government Relations to continue to work in support of the goal of total nuclear disarmament (1997-D022) and dismantling existing U.S. nuclear weapons (2009-D060).
The National Episcopal Church resolution effort was led by Dr. Frank Baldwin and Dr. Linda Gaither of the Ithaca Area Episcopal Peace Fellowship, who were also instrumental in the passage of a Back from the Brink resolution at the 152nd Convention of the Diocese of Central New York.
